Fire & Ice

[Progflaw99]

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Fire and Ice, by Robert Frost​

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Outer Rim | Braxant Sector | Bastion​

Unidentified Secure Storage Facility​

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Endless. Perpetual darkness punctuated by brief moments of light and life. No matter how she tried she always wound up back at the beginning, a loop of events and memories replaying in her mind. Unable to react, unable to change the course of events she finally succumbed to the void of nothing at the back of her mind, retreating into it like a warm blanket in the cold of night. It would not hold her forever though. Merely a temporary respite from the torment that was life - or was she even alive? Is this what death had wrought? Nothing was solid or sure, everything muted like under a heavy blanket of fog. And then... And then.​

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Amber eyes snapped open beneath the crystalline veneer of the stasis pod, bright light searing the occupant's eyes as if set ablaze by the flames of Oricon. *Oricon.* That was home. Her home. A violent tremor shook her body, the rattle of plastics emanating from where the pod had been stowed. Had the woman been able she would have squeaked. Pain, immeasurable pain as her lungs fought against the fluid within. A frigid chill gripped her throat as she locked her eyes shut, the overwhelming light sending shards of pain coursing through her skull. Again her body heaved, upsetting a measure of the fluid. Twice more before a fully formed cough finally cleared her lungs, eyes tearing and body fighting as blood slowly began to circulate. This wasn't death, not a permanent one...

An alarm external to the pod began to sound, an alert of some kind for those nearby. Lights blinking as bio stats scrolled across the holodisplay. Whether by fate or by the timely activation of the pod, Lyra had begun the deep thaw. She felt she was going to be sick. Fighting every impulse her body gave her she ground her teeth, arms reaching up to the transparent surface above, pressing hard at first, then weakly striking it in hope of breaking free. No.. she wasn't strong enough, not yet. Lyra turned her head to the side, spitting a particularly thick collection of fluid towards the side of the pod. For now she needed to gather her strength, then she could fight back. Resigning herself to regaining her bearings, she slowly began to test her eyesight. The pain continued initially, a crack of light here, a crack of light there before shutting them again but as time passed she could slowly begin to see shapes take form, a fuzzy mess but shapes nonetheless. The alarm had stopped sounding, whether by input or remote control she couldn't tell, but she counted her blessings, the shrill sound had only served to further exacerbate the headache she felt coming on.

[member="Ao Xian"] | [member="Darth Saarai"]​

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Lyra Naerys"] | [member="Ao Xian"]

Time and time again it was proven to Saarai that caution and deliberation were the two main courses towards success.

He tried to instill this in his students.

That passion had its place, but it was not during the heat of the moment. Lose yourself to passion there... and you lose your life more often than not. The difference between a Sith and a Jedi was simple: one could control their passions... the other could not. "You may eat her, if she becomes a threat." The Thirriken calmly stated as they watched the pod slowly thaw in the heat of the facility.

Oh, the Sith Lord would rather have her alive- there were questions here, after all. But they were not insistent as one might expect. Tai valued the lives of himself and his apprentice more than some interesting mystery.

Slowly the pod disengaged and out came a woman.

"Hello." Tai simply said, while watching her get back to herself. "Who are you?"

Straight to the point as always.

 

[Progflaw99]

The sudden hiss as the interior of the pod hungrily gasped in air from the outside caught her off guard. The frigid burn of oxygen into her lungs had subsided, mostly. As fresh oxygen entered however it was as if a breath of life had been breathed into her body, once warmth starved fingertips now tingling with daggers of pain as they awoke from their slumber. With another tremble she made an attempt to escape the pod, her arms coming up just in time for the transparent screen to retract. *That was interesting.* she thought, opening her eyes just a crack. *Good.* The pain was gone but the fuzzy colored shapes remained - at least now it didn't feel like something was boring into her skull as she opened them. Carefully she took a breath, urging her aching muscles to swing her pin-pricked legs and feet over the edge of the small bed, if one could call it that. With some difficulty she managed, blinking hard a few times in hope that her vision would begin to clear up soon - without it... well, that was it wasn't it. Absentmindedly she'd begun massaging one hand with the other, the blood slow to circulate. She stopped at the sound of a peculiar voice.

"Hello." A pause. "Who are you?"​

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Her chest tightened, her breath caught in her throat. Someone was there. *How long have they been there? Why have they stayed silent till now? Who am I? Who are they?* Questions raced through her mind at breakneck speed. She couldn't answer the questions right now, she needed more information - information she would only get by divulging some of her own. Her memory was a blur, a good portion of it still hidden behind a wall of fuzz within her mind, but she knew enough. "My name is Lyra, I'm from Telos IV." It wasn't a lie, just not quite entirely accurate. She was from Telos IV, originally. Long since however, she'd taken up residence on Oricon with her Sith Master, Lord Tirdarius. His name sounded strange as she contemplated it in her mind, perhaps that wasn't his name? She couldn't quite make heads or tails of it but as the words rolled off her tongue they sounded increasingly correct.

She could see their faces, the faces of the dead men who'd delivered her that fateful day unto the surface of Oricon and a new life, a new existence. She would have to thank them someday, somehow - but as she thought these things words began forming again at the tip of her tongue. "Can you tell me where I am? I seem to be quite at odds with reality lately." She absentmindedly looked down at where she was seated. Or at least, she thought that's what she was looking at. Everything was still out of focus. Looking back towards where the voice had come from she wasn't sure if she was losing her mind, or if her eyes really were that messed up, but she could have sworn she was looking at some sort of Avian. She was already suspicious, just as life had taught her to be. She was unarmed, and though she could feel the subtle presence of the Force at the corners of her consciousness she was in no condition to put up much of a fight. She'd just been thawed for feth's sake.

[member="Ao Xian"] | [member="Darth Saarai"]​

 

[Ao Xian]

Ao'Xian's ears flicked.

She appreciated that permission, even if she rarely waited for permission. Or at least claimed to, her snout in the air. In truth, Ao was very careful to not take actions that would damage the Empire. Perhaps the level of loyalty she expressed was a surprise. It certainly didn't jive with the surface appearance or the way she acted. And yet.....

Haughty. Proud. On a path to godhood in her own personal reckoning. If anyone had asked, she certainly would not take orders from a fancy chicken.

And yet.

She was not a creature prone to deep introspection. She acted. Unlike her teacher she was a creature of instinct and action. Never one to deny herself something she desired simply because it would please someone else. Raw and feral, the Xykan took what she wanted, because it was her rightful due.

And yet.

"Bastion," Ao replied. Her head tilted to the side, watching the human through sapphire slits, the tip of her tail flicking back and forth, back and forth. "The center cog in the wheel of the Sith Empire."

Her head tilted the other direction.

"Tai Fa, she needs a blanket."

[member="Darth Saarai"] [member="Lyra Naerys"]

 

[Progflaw99]

Another voice, different from the first. It took Lyra a moment to discern exactly where the voice was coming from but once she did, she held back any thoughts she may have had. Eyesight still impaired, she squinted a bit harder, hoping to regain some semblance of clarity. Not only of vision but also mind. The cryo-pod had not been kind on her already tawny frame. Thankfully, it hadn't affected her hearing. "Bastion." she heard the voice say. "The center cog in the wheel of the Sith Empire." So she was among friends. If she could call them that. Even among the ranks of the Sith Empire there were no doubt rivalries, though perhaps not instigated by means of open hostilities, political maneuvering could be just as deadly. She struggled to remember where Bastion was in relation to Oricon and Telos IV. It wasn't coming to her.

More importantly for the moment, she wondered if she was under the effect of a drug, or if the figures before her were in fact how they appeared. The latest of which appeared very nearly like a fox, but not any ordinary fox, one borne of a nightmare. Though Lyra had begun to understand that there were strange things in the universe, especially considering the Force, it was still a bit jarring. Even as the shorter figure of the two mentioned a blanket, an ice cold chill ran down her spine. She shivered visibly, her teeth chattering for a moment before she bore down. "Th-That would be appreciated." She played over what she knew in her mind, twisting it about in an attempt to derive some sort of advantage be it of knowledge or position. Had she known the two figures before her, she may have saved herself the time and energy.

"So - Wh-what are you going to do wi-with me?"

Lyra wrapped her arms around her, blinking a few times in another attempt to clarify her vision. Slowly but surely she was beginning to be able to pick up edges and bits of definition, her memory also seeming to return in depth, comparatively.

[member="Ao Xian"] | [member="Darth Saarai"]​

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Lyra Naerys"] | [member="Ao Xian"]

Tai was still studying Lyra in his scrutinizing way when Ao mentioned a blanket.

"What?" Head cocked and then a nod followed soon. "Yes, of course." The flick of a wing and outcame two Inquisitors from the shadows and draped silk-vine around the shoulders of the human. It was more modest and perhaps a touch more comfortable with the current temperature. Now the obvious question came from the young female humanoid and that was where the Thirriken was entirely unsure. It all depended, Tai supposed, because there were no plans in motion for this one.

It had been an unexpected development.

It usually was when Hirou was involved and Tai reminded himself to somehow find a way to thank the Nezumi for their quick thinking. "That depends, miss Lyra." Tai finally said, sharing a look with Ao. She knew the calculation running through him.

After all, it was the same calculation that had saved her life from being crushed against a random wall in a temple ruin so many years ago.

"It depends on how useful you can be. I can sense the Force from you. I can sense the Darkside. If you answer our questions to my satisfaction, you may yet find yourself elevated and not rushing to an early grave." Obviously if they weren't to his satisfaction Tai would allow his former apprentice to simply eat the human. It would be clean, nice and neat. Well, the result would be. Lord Fa had watched Ao eat once and it had been anything but... neat.